Always on, Exceptional Support

By Sabrina May 15, 2012, 4:30 PM

Meet the Softer Side of our Top Abuse Buster at JaguarPC

JaguarPC recently asked one of our top technical support representatives if he could share some information and insight about his role within the company. Chris was willing to take some time out of his incredibly busy day to contribute a few of his thoughts about his position. Chris’ main role within our support department has him mitigating exploitations, preventing attacks and dealing with the hard task of suspensions.

What do you like most about working for JaguarPC?
The people! My coworkers are the best. Also, the support that everyone has for one another is great. They make working here very enjoyable.

Tell us a little bit about your background in the industry?
I have been in the IT field since 1997 and I have mostly worked with network and sever security over the years. I hold many certifications from Microsoft, A+ and Cisco. I have worked on all Windows networks with extremely large user bases across large areas to single server setups.

What is the biggest issue that you are encountering in the web hosting community today?
Security! Due to the explosion of open source, there is the explosion of exploits. Keeping scripts on the user level up to date, permissions correct and passwords strong is as vital to server security as the server configuration itself. Hackers get better with each and every attack and you have to keep adapting as things change.

What are some of the challenges that are presented to you?
Our large user base and our ever growing VPS population keeps me busy securing our accounts and servers. Educating the customer takes a special effort as well. We want to be able to provide our clients with the knowledge they need so that they can learn new ways to help protect their systems and setups.

Since you are in the abuse department on a daily basis and you see issues that are vital to the security of customers at JaguarPC, is there anything you would like to let them know?
We try to implement the least restrictive action that we can, but often times we don’t have any other option but to suspend an account. Suspending accounts isn’t something that we like to do. It is often the only way we have to secure clients accounts/servers against further compromise and further problems

Is there any advice you would like to offer to JaguarPC clients?
Yes. Please, keep your scripts up to date. Popular scripts such as WordPress are updated frequently and those updates often address security issues. It is vital to check your installation often and make sure everything is up to date. This includes updating plugins to ensure that problems don’t crop up.

What activities do you enjoy when you find some leisure time?
Coaching! I coach my kids in many different sports just about year round. They keep me busy outside of work.

What is the best part of your job?
Helping people. I have to help people at their worst time unfortunately. My role at JaguarPC puts me in a position where I’m assisting people when their sites are compromised or their email isn’t working. At the end of the day getting things fixed and running smoothly again is the best feeling.

It is a tough position that Chris maintains and we are delighted to have such an experienced and dedicated member of the staff to take on this vital and important role.